


History Unfolding

by iridescentpenn



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Atlantis: The Lost Empire Fusion, DO NOT COPY, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, More characters to be added as they appear - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-07 19:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20822798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridescentpenn/pseuds/iridescentpenn
Summary: There aren't many people who can say that they've seen history unfold before them. There's even fewer who will willingly speak about it.Gon is one of the few who will, in time, fade away into the obscurity that is history and vanish like the city he went to find.Because he did. He found Atlantis.





	1. How it Starts

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, we die like men.
> 
> Just kidding, or am i?
> 
> Anyways enjoy!

"So you're saying..." Gon begins with little trepidation and much incredulity. "That you knew my father? And that you were good friends with him and Aunt Mito? And you've known about me since I was a child?"

The man in question, sitting on his dark wood desk in a creamy white suit merely smiled widely. "Yup. Ging and I go way back. In fact..."

Gon simply stares, waiting with no small amount of patience- and honestly it's a larger amount than he usually displays- for the man to continue.

The man known as Netero, the man who is known for funding all sorts of things. There's a whirl and then a click, then finally a pale light brightens the previously darkened room. Gon turns to find himself being illuminated by a projector that has shone a picture of his father on the wall and he's holding none other than the Hunter's Journal. 

"That's the... That's the Hunter's Journal!" He turns, suspicions gone in the face of excitement, to face the man. 

"No." Netero says slowly with an even slower smirk crawling across his mouth, mischief dancing in his eyes. "That's a picture of your father holding the Hunter's Journal with the expedition team who went with him."

"Where was it found? Oh I wonder... Was it found-" Gon's excitement has taken all worry of who Netero was and what he wanted out of his head.

They speak in unison, a question and confirmation all at once.

"On Kururu Mountain."

Gon gapes, excitement and curiosity bursting at his seams. He deflates a little at Netero's unchanged smile. The suspicion and worry bubbling back up in his throat when he's handed a brown paper package.

"Your father gave this to me." The old man begins, smile never wavering. "To give to you. When I thought you would be ready."

It's been years since he last saw his father. Years since that expedition supposedly took his life, since he lost all contact with the outside world. He's been on his own for not as long but long enough to feel the slightest inklings of loneliness beginning to eat at his motivation. Aunt Mito had gotten pneumonia and she never did fully recover. It was only a matter of time before it got her too weary and she never woke again.

He settles into the plush chair more snugly and with shaking hands, pulls the string holding the paper closed loose. He slides his fingers under the edge and pauses- just for a moment to wonder- before he pulls it back. The reveal is as anticlimactic as ever, a simple pull of paper and he's quiet. No gasp, no nothing. He thinks, at first, that this must not be real. 

It couldn't be it. There's no way possible. The Hunter's Journal was lost with his father. Yet, here it sits. In all it's hand bound leather glory. There's gold on the spine, in three simple raised bands. There's an X in shiny black, embossed on the cover. The leather is bright red, smooth to the touch and yet as stiff as it should be. He stares at it for a long moment, absorbing its existence in.

He glances, brief and uncertain up at Netero- who waves his hands at him to 'get on with it'- before he slides his fingers over the cover to the edge and opens it. It's as boring as opening the package, nothing special about it when it opens just like any other book, and yet Gon feels himself come alive with excitement. Soon he's flipping through page after page, skimming paragraph after paragraph. He's standing, for some reason, and pacing, for yet another reason. He knows what neither of these reasons are. 

He's reading various passages aloud, to himself mostly but also to Netero. Then he stops and everything stops with him. Realization crashing down around his ears like a tidal wave on Japanese shores. He turns to look at the elder man in the eyes, a tool calloused and paper cut scarred hand runs through his hair. It makes his already wild, spiked hair even more untamed.

"Do you know what this means?" His voice is grave- far too grave for a boy of twenty four. (He's no man and he has no grandiose illusions that he is. For to be a man, he'd have to have garnered more respect among his peers and carry himself with an air of confidence. He has neither respect nor confidence, thus he is still a boy.)

Netero laughs, jolly and pleased. The polar opposite of Gon’s graveness. "Of course I know what this means!" His eyes are sparkling with mischief again, or maybe it's madness. "I've already got everyone we need. All that's left is you." Definitely madness.

"Me?" He's shocked, understandably so. If his opinion mattered at the moment.

It apparently doesn't.

"Of course! I've got a Demolition Expert. I've got a Mechanic. I've got a Doctor. I've got everything and everyone except a specialist in nonsense!" Netero throws his hands in the air, like it will emphasize his point.

"But I can't just up and leave!" He says suddenly, it sounds like a dream and one he can't participate in. "I have a job!"

"Already taken care of!"

"Wh-what!"

"Your letter of resignation will arrive first thing in the morning!"

"My apartment!"

"Done and done. You've been released from your lease and all your stuff put in storage!"

Netero is grinning from ear to ear and clearly pleased with himself. Gon is flabbergasted, he sinks down into the chair he'd occupied while opening the package containing the Journal.

He argues back still, albeit weaker than before. "What- what about my dog?"

He has the curious prickle across the back of his neck that Kon will come dashing out of the doorway the moment he says 'dog' and he's right. Kon sits in front of him in all his massive, white furry glory. His pink tongue lolling out in contentment. 

"Okay. But how will we get there?" He asks because it's a valid question. It is.

Till his hopes for getting out of this situation are dashed by his excitement of getting into it.

He's going to Atlantis.

He's living the dream of his father and his.   
  


The trip to the middle of the ocean is spent with nausea- he's never been on the ocean before and it is much different than a lake- and getting to know his crew mates. He finds that he makes instant friends with the doctor, Leorio Paladiknight, and the dirt expert, Pietro. They're apparently buddies too. It makes their interactions a little less weird. (Like when Leorio tells Pietro he has to take a bath because he smells like he's died. It sounds weird and is weird but slowly takes on a sense of normalcy.)

He even, sort of, befriends the mechanic and demolition expert. The mechanic, Kurapika, and demolition expert, Bisky, are a little harder to get along with but still become simple friendships for him. He's never made friends this easily since he was viewed as an adult. His constant desire to go out and discover Atlantis had garnered him more scorn than interest. It makes him suspicious. 

It makes him wonder how he got into the mess in the first place.

* * *

  
  


The morning had been average. Running out of his apartment late with schematics and notes filling his arms, spilling out of his bag. His shoes had been tied, thankfully, but his vest was unbuttoned. He probably looked like a frightful mess, with his hair still sleep-spiked in every direction and him running at full speed to get to work. He arrived, with a minute to spare, to find his phone already ringing.

The boiler needed his attention already. He set about his day after getting it working again. Preparations for his pitch to the board and fixing the boiler, time and again. Monotonous and average, a good day.

Then he'd been rescheduled, notified late, and avoided. The board members scurrying away from him like birds from a child. The Head of the Board laughing in his face as she climbed into her car, telling him none of them wanted to see him hurt. Or worse, lost like his father. He'd gone home then- covered in mud from tripping into a puddle in his hurry to catch up with Cheedle- and was caught in the downpour that hit the city. He arrived home, soaked and bedraggled, to find Kon growling at the feet of a strange man. 

His appearance gave Gon every right to be suspicious but when he spoke. Well let's just say that the twenty four year didn't want to stay in the same room for too much longer.

(The man was taller than Gon and stood with an air of malice surrounding him. His pink hair stood straight out in a gelled point from his head and he had symbols painted on his face. He looked like someone had taken a clown and thrown him into a very strange, yet expensive looking tailored suit. It sparkled. The whole scene gave Gon the heebee jeebees.)

Next thing he knew, he was being greeted by a man who knew his father and the rest is history unfolding right before his eyes.

* * *

Gon's natural inquisitiveness began to shine through the fog once they'd set foot in the submarine. His bag was laid on his claimed bunk- forgotten- while he ran through the hallways and explored the confines. He heard Leorio call after him, once, but didn't stop his curiosity till his name was being called over the loudspeakers and found himself walking to the control room with an uneasy feeling.

Uneasy because he would be speaking about a subject that he'd been, in previous encounters with different people, laughed at for his enthusiasm. 

This was not the case here. Refreshing as it was, the unease felt previously about easy friendships came roaring back. (He pushed it down. Now was not the time to dwell on such things. Several of these people had worked with his father. Or knew of his father. This was an excellent chance to learn more about the man who had inadvertently abandoned him.)

Teasing came with ease from the others and was met with the grace of blushing cheeks followed by a flustered response. Leorio clapped him on one shoulder while Pietro did the same to the other- everyone chose to ignore the cloud of dust the latter disturbed from its resting place on his arm- while Kurapika punched his shoulder, twice for flinching, but all in good sport.

They got along easily even after they had to abandon their larger ship and a good portion of their crew to the beast that attacked them. Even after Gon, in a fit of frustration, translated a passage wrong and sent several more people to their deaths. Even after they unwittingly settled in for the night with a nest of fireflies above their heads that would actually cause a fire.

Even after he was face to carved face with another living person. Who, upon lifting the mask, had the prettiest and palest features he had ever seen. He thought about them often in their remaining travel. The glow of the gem around their neck had illuminated their features beautifully- and while Gon suspected them to be male, he didn't want to jump to conclusions- and all he could see was unblemished pale skin only marked by what appeared to be tribal markings with equally pale, possibly white, hair falling into the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

Gon was pretty sure his heart stopped when they reached out and touched him (using the stone around their neck to heal his cut and it was all too surreal). He knows his heart dropped to his stomach when, at the sound of the others approaching, the mask was returned to its place and they were gone in an instant. He kept it to himself. 

The others didn't need to know.

Just like they didn't need to know that Gon had felt the prickle of being watched since before they'd even settled into that disastrous cavern.


	2. Not quite the middle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SOL.
> 
> Still no beta, because I am a masochist apparently. Tell me of any errors if you see them!

He felt terrible, like a stone settling in his gut, about having to abandon the larger sub- and all those people on it- in favor of the smaller ones. Everyone just trying to survive the monstrous beast (he suspected it was a squid of some kind but Leorio did not let him linger long enough to see) and make it to the next checkpoint. Which was a large underwater cavern. The walls showed no signs of having been man-made and the only sign of humanity was around the entrance to something else. (The Journal suggested another cavern that was longer and more like a hallway. Gon was distracted by the large, dog-like statues on either side of the circular opening. It had writing all around the edges of it and he wanted to translate it all- so badly he could taste it- but Illumi said no and thus they did not.)

** **

They enter the next cavern to find its high ceilings and sharp stalactites unnerving, it's narrow stone bridge over its dark unending drop terrifying. They make it to the other side with no casualties, thankfully. Then they’re facing their next obstacle: a solid wall of rock. Pietro is cackling like he's gone mad atop his digger, drilling through the layers of sediment like he's five and digging at the beach. It takes several hours but the next area is startlingly gorgeous. They decide to rest there for the night.

** **

That's when he starts to feel it. The prickling along the back of his neck, the feeling of being watched. He shrugs it off as best he can for the time being. It's not something he can rightfully investigate without being questioned and going off on his own because of a hunch will earn him too many worried looks from the people he's grown to like on this expedition. So he settles into his tent with an ease brought about from a long day after they've had a hearty meal cooked and served by their cook, Pairo. (Gon smiles to himself at the strange pairs he's met on this journey to the sunken city. The ever clean and boisterous Leorio with rambunctious and messy Pietro. Quiet, determined Kurapika and persistent, sassy Pairo. Even their calm, collected leader Illumi came as a very odd package deal with their second-in-command, the always strange Hisoka.)

** **

He came with the Hunter's Journal and that was all. He kind of liked being one of the few that didn't already have that person of comfort there. It was more fun to watch them and think of what his father would think of various situations. (Like Pairo waving his spoon in a very mournful Pietro's face for having not washed his hands before coming to eat or when Leorio fussing over Kurapika for not being careful while fixing up one of the vehicles and getting hurt only to be met with an unimpressed stare from grey eyes. Or when Bisky challenged all these darn boys to a foot race and beat them all.)

** **

He takes a moment to relish in the feeling it gives him and thinks over his companions. Leorio gave up his crisp, white lab coat after they'd washed up on the shore of the first cavern. The sleeves of his dingy, white button-up rolled to his elbows and the shirt always coming untucked from his blue slacks. He was always stealing Pietro's hat, it looked something like a bowler hat and was a scuffed up gray thing. Pietro's black sweater fit him well enough even though the sleeves never seemed to want to stay up, appearing to be too stretched to do anything but fall back down around his glove covered hands- those are black too, Gon notes with a sense of curiosity- but he wears his shirt tucked into his dingy charcoal colored cargo pants. No one knows what he keeps in his pockets, but Gon is sure it's rocks. He thinks it's funny how they are complete opposites in every way except in how they tower over everyone. Leorio breaching six foot while Pietro tops out at 5'11". He knows this because he asked them both on the first day when he was tilting his head back to look them in the eyes.

** **

Gon snickers when he thinks of the differencing heights of the other pair. Kurapika at 5'6" and Pairo at 5'3" are quite possible the shortest of their grouping. Kurapika's quick-wit and sharper reflexes make up for it. His blonde hair is usually pulled back into a low pony-tail and covered with a navy hat that reminds Gon of the newsies back home. His blue jean overalls hang loose on his lithe frame- lithe because Gon has felt the power in the small frame more than once and always in the form of a friendly punch to the arm- and over an oil stained grey tank top. His pant legs are rolled up and rest over his boots. Pairo has a sweeter disposition that does nothing to hide his sass when faced with dilemmas that he feels are unnecessary. Dressed similarly to his brother (Gon thinks he remembers being introduced to them as such) in overalls and a newsies cap, but in a darker maroon rather than navy. He's more often than not covered in flour or whatever powdery substance he used while cooking the previous meal. Red, black, and brown with blue, gray, and blonde. They make him smile with their similarities and kindheartedness.

** **

Bisky was an enigma in the simple way of; she dressed in the typical women's fashion of their time which consists of a pink and white A-line dress complete with white gloves and white, short-heeled shoes. Yet she was their demolition expert and her tenacity showed why she was more often than not. (It made him wonder, more than once, how she'd ended up in the Greed Island Prison but he figures he doesn't want to know that bad.) She also mothers them all to practically death and it's nice, it reminds him of Aunt Mito.

** **

He's sitting outside his tent, hours later and unable to sleep, with the Journal in his lap when the prickle comes back. He resolves to finding what, or more exciting  _ who _ , is watching them when it happens. The light source in the cavern explodes into millions of smaller lights, they look like fireflies and he's hit with a giddy sense of nostalgia until one lands on his empty tent and promptly lights on fire. Soon everyone is awake and screaming. There's running back and forth for water and Leorio is checking on everyone, trying to see who is and isn't injured. Gon trips in his own attempt to help and rolls down a slight incline. He earns himself some bruises and scrapes, there's a pretty bad cut on his shoulder and another on his cheek. He is now far away from the others too.

** **

That's when he comes face-to-carved and glowing face with it- or rather them. For it cannot be an 'it' with a face like that behind the crudely made mask. There's no firelight reaching them where they are, so the only illumination is coming from the strange stone on their necklace. Gon finds himself staring- quite rudely too, he can hear the scolding he'd get from Aunt Mito or even Bisky now- at their face, at the way their skin is pale in the light and completely unblemished apart from the tribal markings under one eye, or at the way their light hair falls into the brightest blue eyes Gon has ever had the utmost pleasure of seeing. He catches them frowning at him or more specifically, at the cut on his face and shoulder. 

** **

The mask is set aside at the same time that the other hand reaches out to ghost over the injury to his face. He flinched at the touch when it finally comes, fingers like ice are soft as a feather. They draw away and wrap the hand around the stone (Gon notices a feather hanging from it and takes a mental note before returning his eyes to the face before him). The fingers return, just a gentle as before but this time adding the slightest bit of pressure and running what he assumes is the length of the cut before pulling away once more with a satisfied hum.

** **

It's when they move to do the same to his shoulder that the sounds of the other's approaching reaches them. Gon looks away briefly but isn't fast enough to miss the emotion flicker through their face. It looks like fear or worry, but he isn't sure and doesn't bother to label it. It is unlikely he will be meeting them again. He turns his head back just in time to see the mask being slid back over their face and a weapon of some sort being retrieved before he blinks. They vanish in the span of time it takes for his eyes to reopen. He blinks again and Leorio is yelling at him, grabbing his shoulder, and shaking him. It's a great impression he leaves on him, honestly.

** **

The next time he's alone, he may or may not reach up to touch the part of his face that the strange warrior had.

** **

* * *

** **

"Αδελφός! Δεν θα πρέπει να έχουν πάει εκεί κάτω!" A girl with black hair that flowed long and loose around her frame whispered urgently to the approaching warrior. Her unmasked face revealing glacier blue eyes wide with fear. 'Brother! You shouldn't have gone down there!'

** **

The other girl, her own dark hair cropped into a short style that framed her face, peers curiously around the edge of their hiding space. At the return of their elder, she calls over her shoulder to him. "Αυτό ήταν σε αντίθεση με εσάς." The mask hanging from her neck shifts along her shoulders as she stands, giving their returned sibling an amused smile. 'That was unlike you, Killua.'

** **

"Γιατί δεν μπορείτε να μου τηλεφωνήσει ο αδελφός σαν αδελφή μας κάνει; Τι σημασία έχει, αδελφή; Είναι διαφορετικό από τους άλλους πριν από αυτούς. Ίσως μπορούν να μας βοηθήσουν." He begins with fondness, a hand running through his pale hair after he removes his mask. Resignation replaces the fondness as he continues to speak while exhaustion shines in his eyes. 'Why don't you call me brother like our sister does? What does it matter, sister? They're different than the others before them. Maybe they can help us.'

** **

The girls share a look. Silence fills the small enclave where they rest before the long haired sister stands. "Αδελφή." She says as she rests a hand on the other's shoulder. "Ας πάμε σπίτι. Αδελφός χρειάζεται ύπνο ομορφιά του." She giggles behind her hand when her brother huffs behind her. 'Sister. Let's go home. Brother needs his beauty sleep.'

** **

"Χαχα. Κάνουν τη διασκέδαση του κουρασμένου αδελφό. Ξέρεις έχω την προετοιμασία για την στέψη." He rolls his eyes with tired amusement. 'Haha. Make fun of the tired brother. You know I have been preparing for the coronation.'

** **

The masks are slid back into place and they slip away unnoticed by the group below them. The return to their home is more noticed than any of them had wanted.

** **

"Υψηλοτήτων σας ! πού ήσουν?" An older man questions them as several servants come to retrieve the trio's armor, masks, and weapons. 'Your Highnesses! Where have you been?'

** **

"Έξω." The white haired young man answers as they walk away. 'Out.'

** **

* * *

** **

Gon finds himself spacing out to daydreams of pretty blue eyes and what he thinks must be soft, white hair. He is still unsure of the person he mets gender (he believes them to be male, but their garb was gender ambiguous with how it went over their shoulders and wrapped around their chest- which was very flat in appearance and he was very ashamed to being able to confirm that he'd looked.) He nearly wrecks the car he's been instructed to drive by their new fearless leader, Bisky. The firefly incident dropped their numbers drastically and the casualties included both Corporal Zoldyck and Hisoka. No one felt particularly bad about their loss but they were still given a proper burial. They'd lost a total of all their remaining members in the chaos along with several of their vehicles and supplies, minus their seven who came out without major injury. 

** **

It was surprising that's for sure. Kurapika claims it to be because they'd all gone looking for him and thus survived with minimal injury. He, of course, got fussed at and over because of his shoulder and for going missing.

** **

The Hunter's Journal leads them forward for two more days without any major incident. It's the morning of the third day that they reach the grand moment of Discovery. They reach a bridge that leads into a bustling city. The last of its kind with the remaining of its people. It's better than anything Gon could have dreamed of.

** **

Till they're stopped by a rather large group of intimidating warriors all masked like the one he'd met just days prior. The leader of the troop, made obvious by the adornments on his mask, moves forward as if to speak to them- only to get interrupted by a commotion that starts from the back but slowly makes its way forward.

** **

"Υψηλότατε!" He says instead as he turns to face not one but three unmasked individuals. 'Your Highness!'

** **

Gon finds himself blinking, a lot shocked and more than a bit pleasantly surprised, at the new arrivals. It's two women with similar features and dark hair but it's the man with pale hair and sharp features that catches his gaze almost immediately. Because- Because it was the warrior who had healed the cut on his face and he was royalty. Gon felt a bit winded at the realization.

** **

"Shit." Bisky muttered under her breath. "We just got ourselves in some deep shit."

** **

At the same time that Kurapika replies with a "You would know, Bisky", Gon realizes that he understands most of what they're saying. He can communicate with them, maybe. The Atlanteans, according to the Journal and what little information is left of them, they were capable of speaking any language due to the time period that their island homeland sank.

** **

"Hold on." He mumbles out, thankfully catching Bisky's attention from glaring the other blonde into submission. She raises a brow in curiosity but holds her tongue in favor of nodding. "Um. Let's see. Με συ-γχωρε-ίτε , Υψη-λότ-ατε?"

** **

'Excuse me, Your Highness?'

** **

The longer haired girl giggles from behind her fair haired companion. He breaks off his bickering with the troop leader with an amused smile playing across his lips. Gon hears various sighs of relief come from behind him. He speaks slowly when he speaks to Gon in his language. "Μπορούμε να συνομιλήσει σε άλλη γλώσσα που είναι πιο εξοικειωμένοι με. Αν αυτό είναι πιο εύκολο?"

** **

'We can converse in another language that you are more familiar with. If that is easier?'

** **

Gon grins at that before turning to tell Bisky, "He says he can speak other languages."

** **

He regrets telling them that when Bisky says, "Parlez-vous français, morveux?"

** **

'Do you speak French, brat?'

** **

He sees the girl with short, black hair and almond shaped black eyes snarl before lowering her spear. The man (was he a prince? Or King?) waved a hand at her saying, "Σταθείτε κάτω αδελφή. Δεν ξέρει." Before saying to Bisky in her chosen language of French, "Dites-moi, vieille femme. Est-ce que l'ignorance vraiment béatitude? Certes, vous savez."

** **

'Stand down sister.'

** **

Gon finds himself gaping. If the short haired girl is his sister, that means the long haired girl who resembles her is as well. Which means they're also royalty. And- and Bisky just called him a brat.

** **

'Tell me, old woman. Is ignorance truly bliss? Certainly you would know.'

** **

Bisky fumes behind him and he takes the opening provided with ease.

** **

"Can you understand me in this language?" He asks, prays that this works. Everything will be easier with all the others if he- or even all of them- do.

** **

He gets a smirk and an amused snort. "Yes. I can."

** **

"Whoa."

** **

Gon feels a little like his mind has been boggled. He's yanked back to reality by a pinched expression coming over the other's face at the words of the man next to him.

** **

"My... apologies for your... rather unpleasant treatment at the hands of our army... but why have you come here?" A woman's voice startles them all into looking at the long haired sister. Her high pony-tail holds the length of her hair away from her face and neck, providing Gon with all he needs to further cement his hypothesis that the three who arrived last are indeed siblings.

** **

"We're on an expedition to find the Lost City of Atlantis," Pietro pipes up before he looks around. "Guess it's not as lost as we thought."

** **

The short haired girl snorts, amusement clear on her face. "No. It is not." She turns to the other girl and signs something with her hands before receiving a nod. They watch as she steps between her brother and the other man with an ease that belies familiarity then says, "Gotoh. Αφήστε μας ή να μας βοηθήσει να τους συνοδεύουν στο παλάτι."

** **

'Gotoh. Leave us or assist us in escorting them to the palace.'

** **

Her tone offers no room for argument and the older man bows low before barking orders to the warriors gathered. She looks up at her brother before turning to them and saying, "Come. You must be tired."

** **

The man laughs, shaking his head at her, before turning to them as well. "It would seem you've passed my sisters' test and they've gifted you their blessing to stay with us as guests."

** **

The other girl giggles before saying with exasperation, "Sister. Brother. You've forgotten something." She walks around them and stands just outside of Gon's arm's reach before inclining her head to them as she speaks with a twinkle in her pale blue eyes. "Forgive my siblings' rudeness. I am Alluka, Princess and High Priestess of Atlantis."

** **

"Alluka! We weren't intentionally being rude." Her brother pouts at her as he comes to stand next to her. He too inclines his head to them and in doing so, reveals the silver circlet hidden among the chaos of white curls. "I am Killua, Crown Prince of Atlantis."

** **

"I am Nanika, Princess and Head Warrior of Atlantis." The final sibling comes to stand next to her sister, head inclined as well.

** **

Bisky muffles an 'oh' behind her glove before dusting off her shoulder with the same hand. "Well guess that explains a little. I'm Bisky Krueger." 

** **

Introductions flow on from there, easily.

** **

"Doctor Leorio Paladiknight, at your service." Leorio boasts, chest puffed out like a rooster.

** **

Alluka seems more curious about his last name rather than his title with her question of, "Oh! Are you a Knight?"

** **

Leorio deflates while Pietro laughs. "No he's not. You can call me Pietro, little miss."

** **

Alluka smiles at him and drops the question easily.

** **

"I'm Pairo Kurta and that's my brother, Kurapika." Pairo smiles widely as he nudges his shoulder into the blonde's. Kurapika smiles and waves with a quiet, "Hello."

** **

Nanika seem to take that as her cue to ask questions about the strange machines they rode in on and the substance that covers Pairo from head to toe.

** **

"And you?" Killua asks him, while he's distracted watching the others converse with the princesses.

** **

He jumps, startled, and turns to see an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm Gon. Gon Freecss."

** **

"Ah. I didn't mean to startle you." Killua says softly and Gon feels his heart jump to his throat at the statement. Whoops in too deep already, Gon. "I have a question. If you do not mind, another?"

** **

Gon shakes his head, "Not at all, your majesty."

** **

That's how he finds himself sitting next to the Lost City's Crown Prince on the edge of the cliff. Gon has his feet near the edge but his knees corralled by his elbows and his eyes are eagerly taking in the scenery in front of them- the city filled with ruins and at the same time very much alive with life. Killua's legs, which are bare of any adornment except for a pair of slim silver anklets, dangle over the edge and he rests his palms against the earth behind them to keep the rest of him leveraged up. Gon studies him then, up close and out of the corner of his eye.

** **

Alluka, Nanika, and Killua all share the same fair skin; previously believed to be unblemished, Gon now sees scars littering the uncovered portions of skin. There's a pale blue sunburst on his left shoulder with a thinner pale blue outline around it. He's thin, but Gon sees the muscles that are lying in wait beneath the scarred and tattooed skin. He notices that he's wearing a garment different from the first time they'd met, this one without a full top and the bottom is more or less similar to a Scotsman's kilt. The fabric is a pale purple that stops just above the back his knees with a longer piece in that falls down over his thighs. It's embroidered with a silvery thread in several shapes. The top is a piece of fabric of the same color that's draped over his right shoulder and falls like a sleeve to his elbow.

** **

His appraising gaze reaches the prince's face and finds it, curious enough, staring out at the city as well. Gon takes stock of an angular face with high cheekbones and small, yet proportionate nose over a full mouth that's drawn into a frown. He looks up to find that his mesmerizing, twilight hued eyes are clouded and distant. The winds tugs playfully at the loose strands of his white as freshly fallen snow hair and is ignored, for a moment. A hand comes up to brush the strands away and Gon catches sight of an intricate braid holding the rest of his hair back.

** **

Killua laughs, low and self-depreciating, before speaking. "You must find me terribly odd. Asking to ask you something, then leading you away.... Only to sit in silence."

** **

"Odd? Not at all." Gon smiles at the sideways glance he receives. "Interesting? Very. Got your thoughts organized?"

** **

"One could hope." Killua sighs with a wrinkling of his nose that Gon finds as endearing as it is adorable. "How did you.... Know our language?"

** **

"I studied it--" He begins only to stop, correcting himself. "Or rather. I studied what's left of it. Of what's left of your culture, city, people. There's not a lot left to go on up top."

** **

Killua hums, his gaze shifting along the skyline as he processes this. "Could you...No no. Can you read it?"

** **

"Of course!" Gon says, digging through the bag at his side for the Journal and resolutely ignoring the effect of having the other's full attention is doing to him. "I couldn't have been able to speak it if I could read it. And if I couldn't read it, I wouldn't have been able to lead us here by translating the Journal."

** **

When he looks over his shoulder, he sees a pair of wide eyes and a shocked expression. He abandons his search for the Journal, even if he'd just found it, in favor of turning to his new companion. He watches Killua's face change from surprise to calculative. It's almost like he's trying to figure something out.

** **

Then, "Could you teach me? To read it?"

** **

He's floored, flabbergasted, lost, confused, shocked- the list goes on and on. In his rapid state of emotion, he blurts out. "You mean you can't?"

** **

And oh dear Aunt Mito, the reaction that grants him is wonderful. The color that rises to Killua's cheeks isn't quite so bright that it clashes, except it does make a pretty picture on his pale skin as it not only tints his cheeks but also the tips of his ears, his neck, and his chest. He averts his gaze to his lap and his lower lip gets caught between his teeth (and Gon will forever refuse to admit to any tangent his mind went on at the sight of that, thank you very much). His left hand rises from his side to rub at the back of his neck for a moment before he leaves it there to let his fingers play with the tail of his braid.

** **

"N-no. Not anymore." He says finally, not quite over his embarrassment if the continued existence of his ruddy cheeks is anything to go by. "Such a knowledge was lost to us."

** **

Gon wonders what else has been lost to them, to Killua specifically.

** **

* * *

** **

Memories lose their color over time, they fade over centuries. Killua couldn't remember what his mother's face looked like or what his father's voice sounded like. When he was small, he'd revered them with a child's innocence. As an adult he knew of their sins and swore to right their wrongs. He knew the crystal, their god, had chosen his mother as its host as punishment for his father's terrible decision. He knew his father had survived their initial confinement but soon left his remaining three children in the care of the royal servants not long after naming Killua the Crown Prince with Gotoh as his Regent.

** **

(He knew his father threw himself from the cliffs on the edge of the city because he couldn't handle having lost his sight, his wife, and worst of all- in his father's opinion- the people’s favor.)

** **

Killua, Alluka, and Nanika had lost their three other siblings, their grandfather, and their mother in one day. Their father in the days following. They mourned at that time, but stopped over time. Grief no longer touched them and reverence no longer colored their memories. They moved on and lived with forgetting the horrors of their past.

** **

And today, in their present, not one of them could recall the events that brought them to their current location in any amount of clarity.

** **

"It was just a bright light-"

** **

"Mother was gone, taken by that light."

** **

"All our brothers but Killua, locked outside-"

** **

"Grandfather with them and so many more of our people."

** **

"And then- nothing."

** **

"No no. And then father threw himself from the cliffs over there-"

** **

"Right, right. And then- nothing."

** **

A shrug and the three slightly confused Atlanteans could offer no more.

** **

* * *

** **

They'd settled into their quarters in the palace with ease. Gon found out, from an accidental eavesdropping on a couple of passing servants, that Killua's coronation was coming up in a couple of days. It explained the prince's absence in the tours around the city lead by Alluka and the training Nanika believed they all needed to go through for whatever reason- he didn't think that they should question her reasons when she seemed very resolute on the matter whenever Leorio complained. It's later, on the second day of their stay, that he stumbles upon him the garden. He's curled into the trunk of one of the trees, a tall and imposing man standing across from him. Killua is silent, his cheek resting in the crook of his elbow while it rests on one of his knees. The man, Gon assumes to be Gotoh, is speaking but seems to give up after a moment longer and bows before leaving.

** **

"Preparations for your coronation, I see?" Gon asks as he approaches, his hands in the pockets of his dark green pants.

** **

"Oh." Killua says, sheepish and embarrassed. His blush and small smile makes Gon's own grow bigger. "You heard about that?"

** **

"Mind if I sit?" Gon says in lieu of answering- upon receiving an amused look and a nod, he sits down next to him- and then knocks his shoulder into the other's. "Kind of hard not to hear about it. I believe it's been described as 'the biggest event to happen since Princess Nanika's last promotion'. Which I don't really find as interesting as a coronation?"

** **

"You wouldn't be as interested in the actions of fighter as you would in politics, would you..." It's said in an amused, rhetorical way. Before being followed with a sigh as Killua continues on to in a tired voice. "But as a scholar, this is like the best sort of gift. Getting to see the politics of the rulers of, what's to you is Ancient History, happen in real time. Right before your eyes. Whereas, me on the other side of things, is just ready for it all to be over and my little bits of freedom to be returned to me."

** **

"That's..." Gon pauses, considering his answer and watching as the other leans back from his knees. "I've never thought about the future ruler being ready for it to all be over with."

** **

"No one ever does." Comes the reply. It's bitter and melancholic with a touch of a tiredness that Gon feels in his bones but doesn't quite understand.

** **

He isn't sure he ever could. It's while he's pondering that thought- and really he doesn't realize that so much time as passed in silence- that he discovers, when he shifts to look at his companion, that there's a weight on his shoulder. He looks down then smiles to himself and resolves himself to shifting down enough that Killua's circlet isn't pressed uncomfortably against his temple. Alluka laughs, quietly behind her hand, at the sight of them when she comes to the garden seeking her brother. Gon is sure they're a sight but never once thought about disturbing the other. He doesn't want to wake him even after his sister arrives.

** **

"Do you think he'll wake if I shifted him?" He asks her, delighting in the way her eyes light up and her smile becomes more curved in understanding.

** **

"I sincerely doubt it. Especially with how ragged Regent Gotoh has been running him in preparation for his coronation." Her smile softens as she crouches down to eye level with him and reaches out to brush the stray bangs from her slumbering brother's face. "Come. I'll help you move him into a position to carry him and then show you where his room is."

** **

It takes no small amount of quiet bickering, as if they were long time friends and this was a normal occurrence, to figure out that transferring her brother's head and subsequently most of his weight to lean against Alluka was the easiest way to free Gon. She quietly instructs him to carefully slide one arm behind their sleeping charge's back and to place the other underneath his knees. They both giggle when Killua's head lolls to the side as Gon lifts him- he's surprisingly light, which is worrisome but a topic to be pressed on another day, for his height- and stays asleep despite the unavoidable jostling. It's only after Alluka has insured her brother to still be asleep that they moved on. The gardens being the most difficult to maneuver rather than the winding hallways.

** **

Alluka slides the curtain out of the way when they reach the doorway that she says leads to Killua's room. He steps through and she follows, moving past him to pull the blankets down from the low bed in the middle of the room. Gon follows her at a slower pace, taking in the room and giving her time to ready the bed. It's after she instructed him of where to lay him and pressed a quick kiss to her brother's cheek that she leaves. That's also the moment he chooses to stir...

** **

...and wake. Which is something Gon never expected to witness in all its glory and prays that his heart isn't beating as loudly as it sounds in his ears. He watched long, pale lashes flutter open to reveal sleep hazey midnight eyes. He can't stop- doesn't want to stop- the train of thought that thinks of all the ways and reasons that he's beautiful and unattainable and put the brakes on Gon, you're going too fast and in too deep.

** **

What happens next, he won't ever forget. It's a good memory to have. For when Killua realizes where he is, he jerks away so hard that Gon nearly drops him. The end result is that his head gets hit rather hard on the edge when the tumble onto the bed. It's more awkward for the linguist than for the prince- who is more than a little dazed by how hard his head hit the edge- and he's still trying to reconnect his brain with his body when the dots seem to connect in the other's head as well.

** **

"Oy vey. Τι έχω κάνει..." He mumbles with a wince when he runs a hand over the back of his head.

** **

Or not. Gon ignores the growing potential for awkward by leaning back to sit on his knees as he says, "Well. You, I dunno, freaked out when you woke up and I almost dropped you. Instead I kinda stumbled and we fell here."

** **

"My apologies." He says as he sits up, one hand held against the back up his head while the other leverages him up. "I think dropping me may have been the lesser of two pains." He smiles sheepishly at him.

** **

"Here. Maybe if you," Gon leans forward, just enough to get his own hands around to the back of Killua's head. "Take this down." He mumbled as he pulls the fastener loose. "And then let this be not so tight against your head..." He threads his fingers through what feels like silk and combs the braid out. "Then pull this off..." He says before carefully pulls off the circlet, pausing only when he gets a hiss of pain, and then places it off to the side blindly.

** **

He's a little distracted by how Killua's hair has fallen around his face in waves and curls to frame it gorgeously. It's only been three days, he reminds himself as he settles himself back on his heels and smiles.

** **

"Better?"

** **

"Better. Thank you."

** **

\---

** **

Gon pretends not to notice that Killua doesn't have his hair pulled back in its customary braid for the next few days. He honestly does because he's beginning to think that he's crazy for falling so hard for someone he's known for only a handful of days.

** **

(But he can't help it. Killua's brilliant in so many ways. For crying out loud, he's about to be crowned king. But he's so damn innocent- or rather, naive- that it's endearing. He's discovered little quirks that just drive the stake further and further into his chest. Things like how his nose crinkles when he's frustrated or how he plays with his hair when he's anxious. There's more but he's getting distracted by his own thoughts. Down Gon, bad.)

** **

* * *

** **

He watches the coronation from the position of honor with the others, standing next to Nanika. Everyone is silent, waiting with bated breaths, as the High Priestess settles the ornate, gilded silver crown atop ivory hair that Gon knows feels like silk. After that, everything sort of blurs by in the way that time passes when one is waiting for something else to happen.

** **

Like cornering the newly crowned king in a dark abandoned hallway to congratulate them- when really all he wants to do his back him against the wall and keep him there by boxing him in with his arms- from a respectable distance. He doesn't expect to be invited back to Killua's room or for the other boy to smile so wickedly at him when he stutters out an affirmation.

** **

"You really shouldn't allow your mind to wander so much, Gon." He's snickering at him, throwing a look filled with mischief over his finely-clothed shoulder. "Sometimes those thoughts find their way to playing across your face."

** **

Gon really shouldn't let it get to him the way it does. It's a friendly jab, the beginning of playful bickering. Yet he does and the action plays into such terrible fantasies he's had. Killua's crown is gone, laid on top of a desk, when he catches up to him. They’re in the privacy of Killua's room. Thankfully, no one sees him grab his wrist to spin the other to face him. 

** **

He's still got the one wrist captured when draws himself closer, free hand reaching up brush his thumb across a rapidly darkening cheekbone before doing what he's been denying wanting. He kisses him. He feels Killua stiffen underneath his hands before slowly- ever, ever so slowly- reciprocating. He releases his wrist in favor of cradling his face in both hands (and is pleased to remember the feeling of long, nimble fingers twisting the fabric of his shirt in their grip). Sliding his hands back, he pulls the braid loose along with a noise of surprise before running his fingers through the impossibly soft locks of spun cotton. He only pulls once to separate them and takes in the sight of dazed confusion in those blue eyes paired with an adorable flush and a kiss reddened mouth.

** **

He grins at Killua when he seems to figure the situation out and opens his eyes, startled, by the scoff he hears seconds later.

** **

He all but tackles him the floor when the other boy mumbles out a quiet, yet indignant. "πήρατε αρκετό καιρό."

** **

'Took you long enough.'

** **

Gon laughs before kissing him again, soft and quick, on the mouth once more before moving on to peppering his entire face with them. He buries his face in the curls and waves at the top of Killua's head before saying, "My apologies, Your Highness."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't guessed it, I'm a HUGE sucker for Killua with long hair. Hehe...


End file.
